Virgin Trains kicks off work on rail line to link Orlando to Miami

British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, celebrates the rebranded Virgin MiamiCentral station in April in downtown Miami. The regional train line, formerly known as Brightline, entered into a joint venture with Branson's Virgin Group to buttress the company's marketing and financial strength. Mike Stocker, South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Mike Stocker / Sun Sentinel)

Virgin Trains USA started work Tuesday on its long-awaited rail line to Orlando, a project that will take five contractors, an army of 10,000 workers and $2.7 billion before the line starts whisking passengers at speeds of up to 110 mph between South and Central Florida.

The Orlando extension will provide South Floridians with a direct rail route to and from Disney, SeaWorld, and Universal theme parks. The 36-month project is expected to be completed in 2022, with service to start the same year.

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The rebranded train company, formerly known as Brightline, announced it retained the services of contractors experienced in mass earthwork, paving, bridge building, and rail bed and utility construction, among other tasks. They’ll be responsible for building 170 miles of new track that will extend the existing South Florida line to a new south terminal of Orlando International Airport.

Virgin’s trains currently serve the downtowns of Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami, the line’s southern end point.

“Connecting Central and South Florida will bring thousands of jobs today and by modernizing infrastructure, we will strengthen Florida’s economy for decades,” said Patrick Goddard, president of Virgin Trains USA.

Work on the two of the project’s four construction zones — areas near the airport and a repair facility — started Tuesday in Central Florida, said corporate affairs executive Ben Porritt. The start of work on the other two zones, which include a 110 mph leg from West Palm Beach to Cocoa, “is imminent,” the company said.

During a promotional train ride in April to mark the rebranding with Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Goddard said there is a high public interest in the service. Porritt said Tuesday that monthly ridership declined in April to 72,000 passengers from a record 92,000 in March. But he attributed the reduction to fewer trips caused by upgrades to the train control system.

The Orlando expansion includes improvements for 129 miles of existing Florida East Coast Railway track between West Palm Beach and Cocoa, and the addition of a westward leg covering 35 miles along State Road 528 to the newly built station at Orlando International, the company said.

Porritt said the company is still considering potential sites for additional stations in South Florida.

“We haven’t announced any locations but we’re in final stages of exploring potential new stations between Miami and West Palm Beach,” he said. “We’re still actively exploring in the Treasure Coast. We will have one there within five years.”

He said the company “has long looked” at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, but Virgin has been holding discussions with PortMiami to provide a link for cruise passengers who pass through the Virgin Miami Central station downtown.

He said the company has been “actively meeting” with local government leaders in Stuart and Fort Pierce since last August. Four cities — Vero Beach, Sebastian, Fort Pierce and Stuart — were asked to submit requests for proposals for potential station sites. Only Fort Pierce and Stuart did so.

Virgin won approval in April from the Florida Development Finance Corp. to raise $950 million in private activity bonds to help fund the expansion project to Orlando.

The green light followed the sale of $1.75 billion in tax-exempt bonds to 67 investors. The company previously sought to fund the expansion with a public stock offering of more than $520 million, but it was canceled after management opted to borrow the money.

The company is also looking to build an extension to the west from Orlando to Tampa via Lakeland. It has obtained the right from the state to build a leg along the busy I-4 highway corridor that was once earmarked for a federally funded high-speed rail line.